Private Broken Vows

[Darth Nemris]

The Jedi cried out in agony, his mouth twisting around words that caught in his throat. Nemris watched with interest as the man squirmed, his body bend and flinching every way that it could to try and escape the pain that seemed to flow through every inch of his being. The agony did not stop until a small trickle of blood began to escape from the Jedi's right ear. At once, the pain that had become his entire existence for hours ceased, and his body convulsed on the ground at the sudden release of tension in muscle pushed past the breaking point. He gasped for air, fog lingering before him from the freezing temperatures in the room they were in. It was not much better outside. Crustai was a Chiss world, after all, and the species was known for its inclination towards the cold. The warehouse they were in, isolated from a nearby settlement, offered only minimal protection from the cold.

"It will be over soon, Jedi..." Nemris's voice called out from the darkness of the chamber, causing the Jedi to flinch as if the pain had begun again. It was a voice devoid of emotion or feeling, and ran like a blade along the man's mind. The Jedi glanced around through blood shot eyes, finally settling on the cloaked form standing several feet away, almost completely hidden in the darkness. The glint of the Sith's silver mask was barely visible beneath the black hood he wore, though the silver gauntlets, each digit ending in a sharp claw, was more frighteningly visible. The Jedi did his best to put on a brave face as Darth Nemris approached, the only light in the small chamber revealing more and more of the Sith Lord with every step.

"They will stop you, the Order will find you and stop you Sith!" The forced and harsh words of the Jedi came from a throat barely able to form the sounds, run hoarse from hours of screaming. The fact the man could speak at all was impressive, and Nemris gave him credit for that. The New Jedi Order had many flaws and failings, Nemris knew them all first hand, but they were not weak. There was a strength that was trained into every one of them, and it was that strength that made them such worthy foes. Stepping closer, Nemris crouched down before the Jedi, his mask coming level with the man's bruised and cut face. Nemris let the silence hang between them for several moments before he spoke again, earning another tremor from the Jedi.

"Your Order is spread far too thinly, Jedi. You are not numerous enough to cover this whole region of space, and after Ilum, you are isolated. It has been easy to find Jedi here, though I know my time here is coming to an end." The Jedi's eyes widened at Nemris's words, and he opened his mouth to speak. In a flash of movement, Nemris brought his hand up, one clawed finger extended and rested the talon against the Jedi's chin, closing his mouth. "I am not a fool, Jedi. I know you sent out a distress signal, but it is too late for you. Perhaps your master can be saved, but for you it is the end." A brief flicker of fear passed across the Jedi's face, and Nemris soaked in the pleasurable feeling that flooded across him.

"Scream..."

With a slight increase of pressure, Nemris pushed the talon upwards.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Crustai
Tag | Darth Nemris

No matter how hard she worked and fought, Valery was afforded very little rest. Her role within the Order brought her to every battlefield of the war to lead the Jedi, but back at the Temple she found no peace either — Padawans required guidance, internal issues needed to be covered and there were plenty of assignments to handle unrelated to the war. But certain things were given top priority, and one of those was the activation of a Jedi's emergency beacon.

Typically it happened when Jedi were out on missions, far away from Alliance space, and ran into unexpected trouble. But this time the signal came from within the Alliance's borders, and Valery could feel a darkness through the Force whenever she attempted to focus her senses on ongoing events there.

So without wasting a second, she prepared her gear, boarded her X-wing, and left to trace the signal to its source, a chiss world she didn't know much about, so the reason for the Jedi's visit there was beyond her. But if they were in trouble, it hardly mattered; she would come for them.

Within hours, she touched down near the warehouse from where she felt great pain and hopelessness echoing out into the Force. The former Jedi Shadow jumped out of her ship immediately, and with her hands ready to reach for her two weapons, she began to move towards her target.

​

 

[Darth Nemris]

Darth Nemris sensed the arrival of the new Jedi presence. He stood over the remains of the Jedi he had been working on, his head turned to the side as he looked at the wall behind him, though his eyes were unfocused. He looked without looking, allowing the Force to guide him as he reached out to the being approaching. There was only one presence coming, stronger than he had anticipated or planned for, but he was not disappointed by this. Either one Jedi or many, he would face them. It was his purpose in this life now.

Blood dripped from the talons of his right hand, merging with the growing pool beneath the Jedi's remains. Turning his head back to his grim work, Nemris reached out with the Force and grasped the Jedi's body. He lifted it, and pinned it to a bracket set in the wall. He left it there as he turned, making his way towards the door of the small room, opening it, and leaving it open, as he stepped out to the second floor of the warehouse. Railing surrounded the second floor, more of an extended walkway than a full floor. It encircled the first floor of the warehouse, stacked with boxes of all sizes, a few of them open showing metallic parts rusted away.

With a brief flick of his finger, Nemris deactivated the lights in the warehouse, and another pulse of the Force severed the wiring to prevent them from coming back on. In darkness, Nemris made his way towards a secluded corner of the second floor, his cloak blending in with the darkness there. Still in body, he began to process of wrapping himself in further shadows, and clouding his presence in the Force. It was a talent he had picked up in his previous life, one from a better time.

These thoughts lingered in Nemris's mind for a few moments before that too was stilled, and the Sith turned his attention fully to the individual approaching the warehouse.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Crustai
Tag | Darth Nemris

While Valery made her approach to the warehouse, she could feel the darkness fading away into the background. It was a skill she knew very well as a former Jedi Shadow, and it meant that whoever was inside knew about her arrival. This didn't bother her at all, as it likely ensured that their focus would be on her, instead of those they were trying to kill or torture. So without suppressing her own presence in the Force, Valery stepped through the entrance and looked around.

Her Keshian eyes adjusted quickly to the dark, allowing her to see much better than most would. Echoes of death lingered in the Force as well, so she knew that she couldn't let her guard down. the Dark presence she had briefly felt before was waiting somewhere within, trying to use a cloaked presence and darkness to his advantage.

The latter certainly wasn't going to work, but she could not see anybody on the first floor.

"Show yourself," Valery said, loud enough for her voice to echo through the compound. "I know you're in here, and hiding in darkness will not work with me." The hilt of her double-bladed weapon slipped into her hand, her thumb close to the activation switch in case he decided to reveal himself.

​

 

[Darth Nemris]

"Darkness is something you are familiar with, isn't it, Master Valery..."

The words drifted from the darkness of the warehouse, cold as the metal floor of the building and filled with contempt. Nemris was surprised to see Valery Noble was the one that had come to save the Jedi, though he supposed it was not much of a shock. The Sword of the Jedi was the defender of the Order, and the one charged with defeating the enemies in the darkness. Nemris remembered her, he had spoken with her on a rare few occasions in his past life. Now, though, he was quite certain she would not remember him.

He laughed.

The echoing, knife sharp laugh bounced around the warehouse, resonating and growing with dissonance. "You have come for your brother and sister in the Light, but for one of them you were too late." Nemris moved, emerging from his place of concealment. The black robe and cloak he wore drifted behind him with every step, and the deep hood surrounding his head revealed only the silver, avian like mask on his head. Eyes of a deep yellow stared down at Valery as Nemris came to an exposed part of the walkway, almost a perfect forty five degree up from where Valery now stood in the warehouse.

"Do you think you will be able to save the other one...?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Crustai
Tag | Darth Nemris

When his voice first echoed through the warehouse, Valery focused intently on it as a test of recognition and to feel the darkness he projected through it. The cold tone, the fuel of the Dark Side from deep within — they carried themselves along the river of the Force like ripples, and Valery was the Order's best at analyzing them. Her purpose within the NJO and to the Force was to seek out Darkness wherever it grew, lingered, or tried to hide, and root it out.

Now, he had become her next target and while she didn't recognize his presence, he was still another source of evil she had to defeat.

"If you were so certain about killing them despite my presence, you wouldn't have been hiding in the dark," Valery finally said in response, as her fiery eyes shifted up to meet the Sith's golden gaze, as he looked down at her from the exposed walkway. Her thumb then shifted to the activation switch of her weapon and with a quick tap, a violet blade ignited on each end of the double-bladed weapon.

"This can end without more bloodshed if you drop your weapon and surrender," she said, knowing it was highly unlikely after what he had already done, but it was a genuine offer. If he did surrender, she would not make a move to strike him down.

​

 

[Darth Nemris]

"I am not afraid to embrace the darkness, Jedi. I learned of its potential, its promise, and I have joined with. You have heard its calling. The euphoric rush of giving in and becoming one with it." Nemris tilted his head up, as if experiencing that very same rush in that moment. As he did this though, he began to reach out with the Force, subtly as to trying and avoid attention. wrapping tendrils of the Force around dozens of metal fragments from one of the nearby open containers. He lowered his head to look at Valery Noble noble again, his voice dropping to almost a whisper.

"A calculated risk on my part, leaving one of the Jedi alive. If both had been dead, you could have simply obliterated this warehouse during your approach. Commit their bodies to the Force, and end their killer all at once. By keeping one alive, I ensured that any reinforcements coming would have to come me. By waiting in the darkness, I have confirmed you were alone." Nemris reached into a fold in his robes, and withdrew a obsidian black lightsaber. The talons on his right hand withdrew into the gauntlet he wore, and with a press of the activation rune, brought the crimson blade roaring to life.

"I have long dreamt of the day I would cross blades with the Sword of the Jedi." With a pull of the Force, Nemris tore the metal fragments from the container they were inside and flung them at Valery. The rusted, misshaped and broken pieces of long forgotten machines flew at the Jedi in a tidal wave of destruction. In the same action, Nemris stepped over the edge of the landing he was on and plummeted towards the ground. He landed silently, his robes billowing out around him revealing black Jedi combat fatigues beneath.

Raising his blade in a defensive posture, Nemris began to run towards Valery.

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Crustai
Tag | Darth Nemris

While she couldn't tell exactly what he was doing yet, his subtle manipulations of the Force got the tiny hairs in her neck to rise and sent an uncomfortable tremor of danger through the Force. She knew he was preparing something or readying himself to attack, so even though nothing changed about her demeanor or stance, she was prepared to move.

"Alone?" she chuckled and shook her head, "Do you think I came here without alerting anybody? Perhaps you got lost, but you're on an Alliance planet close to the Maw border. Every minute you waste here is one closer to your demise," she said coldly, hoping it would put the pressure of having to leave sooner rather than later on him. If he stayed too long and tried to fight his way out of this, he'd get surrounded by the GADF and more Jedi, or this whole place would just be blown apart with him inside.

Normally, she'd opt for trying to take him down herself, but her priority was getting the one surviving Jedi out of here. So if that meant having to let him retreat, she'd do that.

The Sith, however, had other plans and finally lashed out by sending the wave of debris toward her. This finally sparked the more accurate warnings of the Force, and Valery responded by raising a hand up and away from her double-bladed weapon to project a protective barrier around herself. The pieces collided and were made harmless, but the thread wasn't quite over yet — Darth Nemris made a move towards her.

Rather than allowing him to take the initiative, she moved to meet him halfway and swept the rear blade of her weapon around to draw out his guard, before following up with a very quick strike of the front blade, aimed towards the torso. For now, she was testing his reaction, his speed, and readied herself for an interesting battle.

​

 

[Darth Nemris]

The Jedi reacted faster than Nemris had anticipated, but that in of itself was no surprise. Jedi Masters were veterans of countless battles, and a master given the title Sword of the Jedi would not fall so easily. As she diverted his Force assault, he slid to a controlled halt, sensing the danger in the Force a moment before the Jedi rushed him. He deflected the initial strike of the rear blade with his own lightsaber, violet and crimson crashing against each other in a shower of sparks and light before they disengaged. Nemris then had to pivot, turning his body to run parallel with the strike of the front blade.

“You are right perhaps, Jedi. Your friends are coming, but that should not mean our time together should end so soon…”

Not letting her regroup, Nemris ducked down, striking up with his lightsaber in a quick stabbing motion, hoping to draw the Jedi’s eyes and attention to it. In the same motion, with his free left hand, he pulled a small cylindrical tube from his robes, and pressed a small activation button on its side. The tube sprung open, revealing itself to be a short, foot long dagger without a cross guard. It had four, sharp edges all running up to a single, slightly hooked point at its tip. Without missing a beat, Nemris slashed this second weapon out at the Jedi’s feet.

He did not expect the strike to do any real damage. He was gambling more on the sudden surprise factor to push the Jedi back for a moment, giving Nemris time to slip backwards himself. With a push off from his front foot, he hurtled himself backwards into the shadows provided by one stack of crates. As he slipped into the shadows, he brought up the shroud around himself in the Force, deactivating his lightsaber, and began to move through the shadows of the warehouse.

“That is the greatest asset of the Jedi, and your Galactic Alliance masters. You stand together against threats, and work towards a shared goal. You prop one another up, provide aid in times of crisis. Without the Jedi, the Galactic Alliance would have crumbled in war long ago.” Nemris’s voice bounced around the warehouse, ringing with a harsh resonance. For split seconds, he would allow himself to be seen visually before moving off again, always working to keep solid objects between himself and Valero.

“What is it that the Alliance offers to the Jedi for their service and dedication? They demand your obedience, your servitude…” Nemris suddenly emerged near the front of the warehouse, dropping the shroud around his presence in the Force. In his right hand, he held a small detonator.

“They demand your death…”

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Outfit | Weapon | Appearance

Outfit | XoXo
Location | Crustai
Tag | Darth Nemris

The first of her attacks were blocked and illuminated the mostly dark warehouse in violet and crimson light particles colliding, as their lightsabers hissed against each other. The follow-up attack, however, came quickly and forced the Sith to reposition and angle his body to evade the deadly blade. Valery used the momentum of the missed sweep to pivot back around, and just in time to bash aside the incoming tip of his weapon.

But as she deflected it away from her body, she could feel the danger of another attack and looked through the Force to predict his next move. Precognitive skills were among the reasons that made her the renowned combatant she was, the Sword of the Jedi, but moves like this remained hard to accurately respond to. So rather than taking the risk to block or counter, she sent the Force down through her legs and exploded up into the air, and into a somersault to evade it.

She landed several feet away from him, deeper into the warehouse, and watched as he slipped back into the Shadows. As a former Jedi Shadow, Valery possessed many of these skills as well, so she understood them and remained exactly where she was. Right now, she could not trust her eyes but she could trust the Force and allow it to guide her, so he would not take her by surprise.

"It doesn't matter what they offer, it's not why we do what we do," Valery said before her eyes were drawn towards him, as he reappeared near the entrance, now with a detonator in his hand. He had likely felt the swarms of Alliance soldiers and vehicles approaching to encircle the building, and the Master who had survived him had taken the opportunity to evacuate as well. Now it was just him and Valery.

"Why we fight, and how we stand together, is why the Maw will fail, and the New Sith Order will fall," she added before she suddenly dashed away into the darkness, not towards him but to the side of the building. He was no longer important at this very moment and was more likely to be caught by Alliance forces. So instead, she moved toward the outer walls and prepared herself to make an escape.

There would be another chance to bring down this Sith, should her allies not be able to.

​